We headed straight for a normal, powered caravan park in Armidale. It even had a laundry. This gave us a chance to resource thermals and uggs for everyone and reorganise the fridge/freezer situation to accommodate unpowered cooking and body heat. (Guess who’s writing this section of the blog??)
Armidale Caravan Park
Armidale was cold, windy and dry. Our “Lonely Planet” guide suggested that everyone in Armidale suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and so, was a fairly morbid place to visit. However the magnificent autumn trees and beautiful old buildings did a lot to improve the affect of the town. There were very few evergreen trees and the deciduous colours included about 6 shades of crimson (dusty pink to dark red) and various shades of gold. We have desperately tried to remember the words for the autumn song …..
autumn is here have the strength to persevere
as the days grow cold.
autumn scenes have shades of green, yellow, red and gold.
Have the courage to persevere – reminds me of Michael
blah blah blah blah and you shall do well ……
If anyone can email me the rest of the song, I reckon I could sleep better. The town is full of heritage architecture. Massive old schools which the boys thought looked like Hogwart’s! Even the Coles shopping centre had the feel and layout of and old hotel – with a real warmth about it.
Another interesting thing about Armidale was that, although we didn’t see a lot of people around and about (apparently all hibernating with SAD). There was every fast food outlet imaginable. At first I thought maybe it was maybe all the habitants ate, but No – there is actually a Coles and a Woolies there as well. I found it hard to imagine this quiet town could support all of that business – I guess the UNE helps.
Ahhh! But a rose among the thorns….. I found the most beautiful store called ‘Grass Roots EcoStore’. If you combined Natureplay, The Steiner Caravan , the cosmetic section of Four Seasons plus more, you could get a picture of this beautiful store. I have some photos for you, and they were about to go on-line the day after our visit, so see if you can find it. We bought Trinity a gorgeous pair of moccasin-style uggs (organic wool). Pixie beanies and a recycled paper photo album and organic cotton fisherman pants, my husband gently encouraged me to leave behind. I am very happy we found the uggs though. Trinity has discovered she can be separated from her shoes, socks and hats (she’s also discovered she can be separated from her mother – which holds much less appeal for her) so it’s great to have these little moccasins that she can’t get off! She’s also discovered that if she grabs a fist full of Zaac’s hair, he puts her down – a handy little ejection strategy.
Grass Roots Eco Store
GARA GORGE
Gara Gorge is a short drive out of Armidale and part of Oxley Wild Rivers National Park. It was Australia’s first commercial hydoelectric scheme. The scheme powered Georgetown and provided power to the mines. An easy 5.9km walk showed us some lovely rocky-mountain bushland and the remains of the concrete flume which dropped 140m and drove the Pelton Wheel with some phenomenal amount of water per minute. Jaycob took lots of photos until he decided he ‘had enough pictures of rocks’. Initially we went to see ‘The Stranded Whale’ a stone feature of the gorge, replicating its title. We didn’t see it. Upon enquiry we were told it was right at the very start of the walk – somehow we missed it. Still a pleasant day was had by all.
Looking down into Gara Gorge
THUNDERBOLT’S GRAVE – BY ZAAC
Thunderbolt (Fred Ward) was a bushranger who had been put in gaol twice – escaping the second time with the help of his wife. He met a boy aged around 14-15 who became his companion. (Will Monkton) When he was about 36 he robbed an Italian Peddler (in the old township of Uralla) just after his wife had died. The peddler went to the police and a young constable named Walker hunted Thunderbolt along Kentucky River. Thunderbolt was known for his horsemanship, it was how he always eluded police. This day he was on a ‘borrowed’ horse, instead of his faithful horse Combo. The ‘borrowed’ horse was spooked at the river so Thunderbolt lost his mount. Walker was close on his trail and cleverly shot Thunderbolt’s horse to prevent his escape. They then battled in the river. Walker shot Thunderbolt through the chest and bashed his head. Walker was the hero and was promoted to Senr Constable. Thunderbolt’s career lasted 13 years.
The Macrossin Grain Mill Museum, in Uralla, houses many memorabilia of thunderbolt including a series of paintings expressing Thunderbolt’s last actions. And a wax dummy of the departed thunderbolt. We visited Thunderbolts grave and Thuderbolts Rock which marked the entrance to the 1800’s township of Uralla and was depicted in the painting series. It now sits on the edge of the highway and is covered in graffiti. Kind of sad after the mood and beauty of the paintings.
Thunderbolts demise
Thunderbolts Grave and Thunderbolts Rock
WOOLOMIN
30 mins outside of Tamworth we stayed in another bush camp beside the Peel river. Although, much more temperate than Armidale, it was significantly less appealing to the eye, and was so full of bindies that we ended up with three bike punctures. While there we took a 30 min drive into a small, pretty township called Nundle. There we visited the Nundle Wool Mill. We saw the machinery involved in the various stages of making yarn from fleece – right through to dying. The boys then sat and did a little knitting with some 20ply wool and a couple of needles just a little thinner than logs! It was a broad-weave scarf. We stayed two nights at Woolomin before voting to spend a night (once again in a ‘normal’ caravan park) to sort out punctures and a ???leaking water tank. Tamworth’s redeeming feature was a gentle bike ride through a pleasant botancial garden. Otherwise I thought it was very ‘concrete’ . Held none of the appeal of Armidale. [authors note: I realise am raving a bit about Armidale and acknowledge that once these magnificent deciduous trees drop their leaves - and in the absence of evergreens - the place will look decidedly skeletal. Might be able to see some of the Armidilians then!] Next to Coonabarabran, The Warrambungles, Dubbo and the Zoo!
